JCI Tg Aru’s Smile for Peace project wins award
KOTA KINABALU: Junior Chamber International (JCI) Tanjung Aru made Sabah proud when they represented Malaysia to the recent 2018 JCI Asia-Pacific Conference (JCI ASPAC) held in Kagoshima, Japan on May 24 to 27 and won the grand prize for the 2018 JCI ASPAC Best Local Peace Project Award.
More than 10 countries and their 8,000 members participated in the conference.
Three members from JCI Tanjung Aru, led by 2018 President Chang Jennee, participated in the conference.
Taking part in the 2018 JCI Asia-Pacific Conference also helped to promote Sabah's unique culture and its local traditions to the other Asian countries.
At the award ceremony, Junior Chamber International Malaysia bagged five grand prizes, including the 2018 JCI ASPAC Best Local Peace Project Award for its local project: Smile for Peace.
2018 JCI Tanjung Aru President Chang Jennee said the 2018 JCI Asia-Pacific Conference held at Kagoshima, Japan, had opened her eyes to a number of methods to improve her values and leadership qualities.
“This was the first time that I received an award at the JCI International level. I was very excited and moved by this experience. The first thing I thought of was to return to Malaysia and share my happiness with the organising chairperson Guah Chin Yong and her team.
“Finally, I appeal to more JCI members in Sabah to participate in next year's JCI Asia-Pacific Conference which will be held in Jeju, Korea. I hope that this opportunity will inspire our young people in Sabah to create positive change in the community,” said Chang. Smile for Peace was initiated in 2017 by Guah together with the support of her dedicated organising committee. The project focuses on creating sustainable solutions to promote peace in the community. Among the many projects done under the Smile for Peace banner are Smile Day, Make a Child Smile: Movie Day, and Soap for Future. This project first gained recognition when it won the Best Local Peace Project at the JCI Malaysia Annual National Convention in 2017.
“Smile for Peace aligns itself with the international Peace is Possible goals to spread the message of peace. Smile for Peace focuses its efforts to educate the younger generation on the benefits of unity and peace, and that ‘Peace begins with a Smile',” said Guan.
“Through social media awareness and through community efforts, we provide opportunities to underprivileged children to develop them through basic education and skill training, so that they may compete in the workforce in the future, reducing the need to result to unlawful methods to obtain a living.
“This award is a huge encouragement for us, especially to persevere in our efforts. We also want to share this award with all our friends, volunteers and community partners who worked together with us.
“I hope that this award will increase awareness and encourage more people to participate in this meaningful project,” said Guan.
For more details on this project, go to Facebook page, “Smile for Peace”; or follow “JCI Tanjung Aru” Facebook page to learn more on the JCI movement.